It’s tough sledding for youngest team in the league

TOPPENISH - It’s the youngest team in the Greater Columbia 1B League, with four eighth graders and three freshmen on the varsity. But Bickleton may have the biggest heart.

Last night’s game against the Yakama Tribal team was another incident where the Lady Pirates couldn’t bring home the win, but they held strong against the older and more experienced Lady Eagles before succumbing, 68-32.

Bickleton’s Kira Harvey did a great job shutting down Yakama Tribal’s Athena Wapsheli in the second half. The Yakama senior connected on a dozen 3-pointers in the game, most of which were made in the first half. Wapsheli only managed three 3-pointers in the second half, in large part because of Harvey’s determination, according to Coach Emily Barnhart.

While the Lady Eagles came out strong in the first quarter with a 24-9 lead, the Bickleton girls doggedly kept after the Eagles throughout the game. The Tribal girls maintained the lead into halftime, allowing the Bickleton team just 15 points to their 51-point explosion.

But, the Lady Pirates never gave up, only allowing the Eagles to outscore them by three in the third quarter. In the final quarter of the game, the young Bickleton team collected 10 points to the Eagles’ 7.